European Commission to continue gas talks with Russia and Ukraine - Barroso

BRUSSELS, August 31 /ITAR-TASS/. The European Commission will continue discussing gas prices with Russia and Ukraine as well as the implementation of Ukraine’s association agreement with the European Union alongside with working on a new package of anti-Russian sanctions, Jose Manuel Barroso, the outgoing EU commission president, told a news conference after the EU summit.

“In July, the European Council already approved the adoption of significant economic sanctions against Russia; it now stands ready to take further steps in the light of the evolution of the situation on the ground. The European Council has asked for these new sanctions to be ready for adoption within a week,” the EU leaders said at the final news conference after the recent summit in Brussels.

Further crisis escalation in Ukraine will lead to long-time deterioration of the EU-Russia relations, Jose Manuel Barroso said.

On Saturday, Ukraine agreed to resume trilateral gas negotiations with Russia and the European Commission that had started on May 2 but had been interrupted on June 16. Barroso hopes the new meeting will take place in the first half of September.